A Russian court decided to detain the American Wall Street Journal reporter, Ivan Gershkovich, in Moscow for two months pending investigation in a espionage case, after he was arrested today (Thursday) by the Russian security authorities.
In a statement, the newspaper denounced the arrest warrant, demanded his immediate release, and strongly denied Moscow's accusations of espionage to its correspondent, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Gershkovitch had been arrested in the act of espionage. He pointed out that the matter has nothing to do with suspicions about the man's activity, but rather after confirming what he did.
Regarding the expected response from the United States to the arrest of the journalist, Peskov said: "We hope that there will be no response."
The official spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, had previously considered that what the detained Wall Street Journal reporter was doing "has nothing to do with journalism."
She indicated that it is not the first time that foreigners in Russia have used the status of a "foreign correspondent" and his journalistic accreditation to cover up non-journalistic activities, and he is not "the first famous Westerner to be caught red-handed."
Today, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained American journalist Ivan Gershkovitch in Yekaterinburg from the Wall Street Journal office in Moscow, on suspicion of espionage. The Commission's investigation department filed a criminal case against him under Article No. 276 of the Russian Penal Code on charges of espionage.
Okaz (Moscow) @okaz_online